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2 UEC Int’l Mini-Conference No.52

Efficient and Highly Reliable Solid-State Circuit Breaker(Review

Research)

Wenhao REN ∗1 and Cheow Keong CHOO 2

1 UEC Exchange Study Program (JUSST Program)
2 International Education Center(IEC)
The University of Electro-Communications, Tokyo, Japan

Abstract

Nowadays, the further development of SSCB is still limited by the circuit topology and internal
power semiconductor devices, and there are problems such as low efficiency, lack of reliability, and
small power capacity. In this paper, we carry out the related technical research and circuit simulation
with the goal of improving the power efficiency and reliability of SSCBs. Taking 100V DC microgrid
as the research background, the topology of DC solid-state circuit breaker (SSCB) using GaN FET is
firstly introduced. Then, various types of existing SSCBs are compared, and the driving and switching
circuits, fault detection circuits and snubber circuits of the SSCB are designed and analyzed. The
experimental results show that the SSCB design circuit using GaN FETs is effective. In addition, the
RCD snubber circuit effectively solves the overshoot problem generated when the switch is turned off.
Therefore, the proposed SSCB can better meet the requirements of DC microgrid protection.

Keywords: Solid State Circuit Breaker,Power Efficiency, Reliability, semiconductor.

1 Introduction faults, thereby improving the overall safety and
reliability of electrical systems. In addition, they
In the rapidly evolving field of electrical en- integrate seamlessly with modern power elec-
gineering, with the development of distributed tronic systems, making them ideal for use in
generation, smart grid and microgrid technolo- emerging electrical systems. A mind map of the
gies, as well as the significant increase in sensi- main areas of current research in solid state cir-
tive digital loads and the demand for more and cuit breakers is shown in Figure 1.
more electric vehicle charging stations, the need This paper attempts to optimize the circuit
for efficient and highly reliable circuit protection power loss and safety issues starting from mate-
mechanisms has never been more pressing. [1] rials, specific devices and circuit structure. The
Traditional mechanical circuit breakers, while characteristics of the semiconductor materials
widely used, are often limited by mechanical associated with solid state circuit breakers are
components, resulting in slower response times,
shown in Figure 2 [1]. The upper voltage and
susceptibility to electromagnetic interference, current ratings of some advanced commercial
potential arc generation during shutdown, re- three-terminal controllable power devices [2] are
duced reliability and high maintenance require- shown in Figure 3 [2]. As can be seen from Fig-
ments. In contrast, solid state circuit breakers ures 2 and 3, different semiconductor materials
(SSCBs) offer faster operation, higher reliabil-
have very different power consumption charac-
ity and greater protection. Solid-state circuit teristics and conditions of applicability. Table
breakers utilize semiconductor technology to in- 1 is a comprehensive comparison of the current
terrupt circuits and are able to quickly isolate
SSCBs that I found in papers.
∗ The author is supported by JASSO Scholarship. The rest part of this paper is organized as